Pros:+One of the largest song lists in Hatsune Miku history+Dozens, literally dozens of customizations+Purchasing options are rather nice and affordable for fans+Perfect port of the arcade title that launched in 2013 in Japan

Cons:
–Songs do not have English subs at all

*Editor Note: The cover photo used is Hatsune Miku x Tetsuya. The art is NOT from Future Tone.*

With Japan’s premiere virtual idol having been in North America for a few years, Hatsune Mikuhas become a major beat rhythm series that has taken the world by storm, and it has continued to do so since it’s first launch in the West. This latest title isn’t something anything different than what we are used to as Sega has finally decided to drop the nuclear bomb of the series on PlayStation 4 fans. This latest title isn’t just a single games, instead it’s multiple titles, and the series doesn’t show a sign of slowing down thanks to Crypton Future Media’s synthesized singing vocaloid idol.

Let alone has Sega combined songs, animations, and music videos. Sega created a simple, deep- and enjoyable button-tapping rhythm game that has taken the world by storm, and has unexpectedly become one of their best-sellers of all time. Each song, whether it’s an original or a remix, serves an enjoyable playthrough across each of the games increasingly intense difficulties. That means fans will take on 200+ songs from both Future Sound and Color Tone, which brings in songs from both the Project Diva Series as well as both the arcade title and even the Project Mirai series. However, there’s a bit you need to know before truly diving into Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone.

To begin, the game comes with a free download titled Prelude. This version comes with a free pair of songs for players to try and see if they like it. After these two introductory songs, the rest is up to the players to purchase if they decide to continue. The hefty load of the games music comes as two different packages. Both are the aforementioned Future Sound and Colorful Tone. For those deciding to be picky, fans can choose from buying them seperately at $29.99 or as a bundle for $53.99. If you’re looking to save a few bucks, the latter one is your best choice, and will offer you hours upon hours of complete enjoyment. That’s a Helluva library to enjoy.

With that stated, once you’ve got the packs downloaded, you get to choose how you play Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone is entirely yours to navigate. If you’re looking for a story structure, don’t expect it, because their isn’t a set path for you to take. It’s entirely up to you what songs, what costumes, and what customizations you put on each of the idols. If you are looking for a bit more challenge than before, fans can take on special Survival courses, all which for players to clear out on their own choosing, but not without a bit of difficulty.

As one would expect while searching for a challenge within the game; lists can be organized by level, difficulty, name, performer and the likes. Much as you’d expect, the game offers this in order for die hard fans to jump right into some of their favorite songs while others can dig into their preferred experiences. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t spend my first eight hours digging through my favorite characters, songs, and difficulties in order to get the best experience possible.

Having gotten all of those hours under my belt, I was able to clear out over 30 songs across the span of multiple difficulties, while spending hour upon hour with others in order to clear them. This is because even within certain difficulties, others are situated in a point where they are rated on a scale of 1-10. The higher the number, the harder the song, and the more difficult experience for those looking to take on harder challenges before upping each difficulty.

While the game, at its core, is a rhythm game, many may find the game daunting as the lack of structure can be a bit overwhelming. In the past, those who experienced such games, are used to finding progressive lists of songs, and even offering a sense of completion for fans to unlock a new song after completing the previous ones. If you’re seeking a complete structure, Project Diva X, was the best one for fans to get their hands on, this game tasked players with unlocking worlds within the game that were themed around five songs per world. This gave the game an orderly played fashion in comparison to Project Diva Future Tone, which is the buffet of the franchise, and allows fans to pace themselves through the overall game.

If you are a fan like myself, this game is the ocean you’ll want to jump into head first, and instantly start navigating your way through the list of new as well as old songs. This game, to past players, will seem rather familiar with how the game is commanded. Fans will find themselves using the new combination of using two buttons at once to complete the pushes, but also the games requirements to compete maps can also require fans to use four sets of buttons to complete it, but also the ability to hold down buttons to increase points earned. The hold option is not required to complete the note, however.

To add something new as well, there are five difficulty levels for fans to enjoy. However, not all are shown in all the difficulties. If you are wanting to go through them all, there’s 149 in Easy, 216 in Normal, and 224 in Hard. Most of the songs can be beaten in hard mode only to be unlocked in extreme, and even a few more in Extra Extreme. If you are like me, this offers up plenty of replay value, and all-the-more reasons to unlock all of the songs possible. If you want to break a controller, need a new TV, and possibly see your hands bleed, Extra Extreme may be right up your alley, but for me? I’m avoiding it at all costs as I am still trying to get used to the games. After all, age is beginning to show for me, and my coordination isn’t exactly what it was at one point.

The games drawing point isn’t just it’s freedom to navigate songs, and customizations – it’s the fact the game is built for rhythm game fans that want to grab high scores. It’s for those who want to show off their coordination. Also, it’s for fans that just want to earn Vocaloid Points (VP) to unlock new costumes, scores, and difficulties. If you want to know how many you are going to collect, there’s several hundred customizations for fans, and even ones that are just color swaps based on special Sega-themed cosplay costumes. Some of these costumes come from games such as Space Channel 5.

With all this wrapping up, this game is one that sends me through playing dress-up with each of my characters for each song they are in, it’s also a game that has left me pawing through a massive music archive and shooting to beat the high-scores other players have set. For $53.99, there’s no other game that has this much to offer, and for the price I can truly say this game is a perfect fit. With songs such Akatsuki Arrival and Paired Wintry Winds, I’ll be busy for many more hours even after this review has been published. If that gives you any idea, it’s a worthy buy, and one of 2017’s welcomed warm-up’s for the year.

Our review is based upon a retail version of the game given to us by the games publisher. For our review, we used a PlayStation 4 Pro with a 7200RPM HDD. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.